Swale Ale Winter 2012

Winter Issue 2012 1

The FREE Magazine of the Swale branch of CAMRA

The Campaign for Real Ale

Swale Ale Vol 4 Issue 4

50% MORE! Pub closures and beer prices!

In this issue… Pumps, fonts and return trays

Beer prices

Local cider makers win national awards

T he CAMRA campaign against the tax

escalator (whereby beer duty increases by

2% above inflation each year) had a result; a

parliamentary back-bench debate on 1st

November led to the passing of a motion for the

Government to conduct a ‘thorough review of

the economic and social impact of the escalator’.

A step forward that sends out a clear message

from inside Westminster. However, Treasury

Minister Sajid Javid rejected the claim that such

price hikes were killing pubs. The next step on

this issue is the CAMRA mass lobby of

Parliament on 12th December.

On the same day CAMRA revealed in a

press release that 18 pubs are now closing a

week, 50% more than last year; 450 pubs gone

since March. If the escalator isn’t the main cause

of pub closure what is? Is it perhaps the pub

business model where landlords are

overcharged for their products? The CAMRA campaign is a cause

supported by many in the trade including pubs

and breweries, but tax is a relatively easy and

popular target. Everybody dislikes unnecessary

taxation. But are you aware that a lot of pubs

have to pay 50% more than the market price for

their beer! It has been going on for a long time

and needs to be fully exposed.

In a time of economic belt-tightening it

is normal practice for businesses to maintain

sales levels by offering discounts and special

offers. So why is part of the beer industry so

different?

How much does a cask of beer cost?

Go to a brewery website and you will probably

not find the ‘Firkin’ costs of their staple product.

However my bit of research reveals that a beer

Prices as they were

Winter Issue 2012 2

Winter Issue 2012 3

agency/supplier offers a firkin of a Shepherd

Neame seasonal 4% beer (9 gallons, or 72 pints)

at £72, excluding VAT@20%. So cost of

purchase from the agency is £1.20 a pint.

That same beer is being sold by the

brewery to one of their own publicans for

£113.00, add VAT and hey presto it is £1.88 a

pint. 50% more. To rub salt in the wound the

same local brewer sells a stronger beer brewed

on the pilot brewery for £110+VAT. Whatever

happened to economies of scale within a large

brewery, let alone against the local micro-

brewers.

Look at the Free House? Well, as you

may know there are very few real free houses;

many are free of brewery tie, but are instead

tied to a pub company (PubCo), such as

Enterprise Inns or Punch Taverns. So what do

the PubCo’s charge their Landlords? Well it

depends; it depends on the type of agreement the tenant has and, as I understand with

Enterprise PubCo, whether the tenancy

agreement allows the discount on their beer list.

For Enterprise, the basic discount seems to be a

set amount and a standard bitter will receive a

discount, which was recently £20.79 a firkin.

This gives a discount, depending on the beer, of

around 25%. For Young’s Bitter or Adnams’

Southwold bitter the cost is around £84.50,

excluding VAT. The same discount also applied

recently to their Premium beer range, so the

percentage discounted drops slightly. Fuller’s

London Pride has a discount of around 21%,

costing £97.72 excluding VAT, instead of

£118.51.

If the Enterprise tenant is really lucky (?)

they may be offered a ‘super’ discount but more

common is access to the SIBA list (Society of

Independent Brewers) because of the interesting

range of beers that then become available. But

it is at a cost. No discount shown here. In fact

the prices are pretty scary. Our local

Hopdaemon brewery might sell you a firkin of

Golden Braid 3.7% bitter for less than £70+VAT.

If you buy it from the SIBA list you spend an

amazing £103.67 +VAT. What is more the SIBA

list is progressive on ABV so each percentage

increase raises the price, with a 6% beer costing

around £130 excluding VAT.

Now there are two things that occur to

me; firstly the extra money the landlord pays is

passed onto us and with the enhanced price we

are also paying the increased VAT for a product

it could be argued is 50% more wholesale, than

it should be. Those who benefit from this

overcharging are not just the PubCo’s and some

breweries but also the Treasury, and indirectly

the supermarkets. The losers? Well in the long

term everybody will lose as more pubs will

close, but right now it is the customer and the

landlord.

The second thing is what can we do

about it? Well joining CAMRA is a start;

spreading the information to others will help,

but bearing in mind the importance to tourism

of our heritage of public houses, particularly in a brewing town like Faversham, perhaps a letter

or email to the Tourism Minister, who happens

to be local MP Mr Hugh Robertson. I am sure

he will be pleased to know our views. [JW]

50% MORE! Pub closures and beer prices!

Become an active member of CAMRA

Write to your local MP and or sign the

petitions on the CAMRA national

website to show your support and

views.

Your local MPs are:

Faversham and Mid Kent

Rt Hon Hugh Robertson MP, 11 The

Square, Lenham, Kent, ME17 2PQ.

Sittingbourne and Sheppey

Rt Hon Gordon Henderson, 1st Floor,

Unit 10, Periwinkle Court Business

Centre, Church Street, Milton Regis,

Sittingbourne, ME10 2JZ.

Winter Issue 2012 4

Swale Ale © Winter 2012

Published by the Swale Branch of the

Campaign for Real Ale Ltd (CAMRA).

Circulation: 1000

Editorial Committee and Contributors:

Jeff Waller, Gary Holness, Keir Stanley,

Simon Ing, Les Bailey, Suzanne Collins, Gill

Joiner, Keith Joiner, and the Brewery

History Society.

Print Liaison: Les Bailey

Advertising: Gary Holness

——————————————–————

All correspondence to:

Les Bailey

58 Wallers Road

Faversham

Kent

ME13 7PL

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01795 538824

———————————————–———

Any opinions expressed within these

pages are those of the individual authors

only and do not represent those of

CAMRA or any of its officials.

The existence of this publication in a

particular outlet does not imply an

endorsement of it by Swale CAMRA .

———————————————–———

Printed by:

Abbey Print, Faversham

———————————————–——

Branch Details

Chairman: Simon Ing

Secretary: Les Bailey

Social Secretary: Steve Bennion

Treasurer: Les Bailey

Editorial

G reeting one and all and welcome to

the winter edition of Swale Ale. Well

the season of mist and mellow fruitfulness

is well upon us. Spooks have spooked us at

Halloween, fireworks have lit up the sky on

November 5th and it’s getting colder. It is

at this time of year, as the nights are getting

darker, that thoughts turn to darker ales.

Gone is the yearning for the golden ales of

summer and here are the warming,

chocolate, liquorice and spice flavours of

some of the fantastic ales available at this

time of year. Christmas will soon be upon

us, and with it Santa brings a sack full of

goodies in the form of delicious Christmas

ales (but only if you have been good boys

and girls!!).

Talking about sacks full of goodies

this issue of Swale Ale is brimming with

them, with pieces as diverse as the current

state of beer taxation in Britain, the

Brewery History Society and pump return

trays, as well as information about beer and

pubs in the Swale area and much more.

So get out there and find yourself a

warm pub with a roaring open fire and

settle down and enjoy what the season has

to offer.

Advertising rates:

Half Page £25

Full A5 Page £50

Minimum circulation 800

Winter Issue 2012 5

Chairman's Chat

N ow is the winter of our discontent. Now

there someone who has just been told

that the in-laws have been invited for

Christmas. It usually goes something like ‘We

are having in laws for Christmas.’ I know you’re

all thinking it - ‘I'd prefer turkey!’

Well with this fait accompli what can a

man do? Well if they have any sense, go to the

pub and consider their options. First thing what

to drink? Stout, Porter, Old Ale or a winter/

seasonal ale. Now make a plan. You know

you’re going to have to go shopping, so

remember - agree to going but make sure you

get to decide on the drinks to buy. That way

you will have a good beer or two to drink over

the festive season. Now as for the rest of the

shopping, it's mostly buying stuff that people

don't want (so keep the receipts). If you have

kids or grandkids it is now time to earn some

goodwill. Arrange to take them to visit Santa.

Now don't fall into the usual trap, i.e. queuing

for hours at a Santa's grotto. It will cost a bit

more but most of the steam railways run Santa

specials.

A day out, a ride on a train and here's

the best bit, most of the railways have a café and

a shop. You’re thinking ‘so what?’. Well they’re

licensed and sell beer. O.K. some only sell

bottles, but it is usually good and often bottle

conditioned. Do your homework and if you

need to take a glass and bottle opener, you will

know. Now sit on the train and drink your beer

while watching the scenery go by and waiting for

Santa to appear.

Now you may well find me in a nice

warm pub, not too close to the fire, making

plans to survive the festive season and drinking a

winter ale. So enjoy what you can and I'll see

you in the pub or at a winter ales beer festival.

Simon Ing

Faversham’s hidden gem The Shipwright’s Arms, Hollowshore,

Faversham

A 17th Century traditional creek side free house. Selling up to five real ales from Kentish brewers, and serving good food. Take a trip back in time and savour the delights of a truly traditional pub.

Rated by Jamie Oliver as one of the top 100 traditional

pubs in the country.

Please check website or phone to confirm hours of

opening.

Tel: 01795 590088

Web: www.theshipwrightsarmspub.co.uk

Directions: At Davington School turn into Ham Road and follow the signs across the marsh.

http://www.theshipwrightsarmspub.co.uk/

Winter Issue 2012 6

37 Station Street, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3ED 01795 228971

SHEPHERD NEAME ALES SERVED Mon—Sat 11am—11pm

Sun 12—8:30pm

Thai Restaurant and Takeaway

Tue to Sat 12 noon—2:30pm & 5—10pm

Christmas bookings now being taken from a choice of Thai or Traditional English Menu

THE FOUNTAIN SITTINGBOURNE

Winter Issue 2012 7

Swale CAMRA Branch Diary Saturday 24th November 2012

Branch Mini Bus Trip to Rural Pubs

2.00 – 8.00pm (approx. timings) Details via

[email protected]

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Branch Business Meeting: 8.00pm Shipwrights Arms, Hollowshore, nr Oare

Saturday 15th December 2012 Faversham Christmas Pub Crawl 12 noon The Anchor, Abbey Street; 12.40pm The Phoenix; 1.20pm The Swan & Harlequin (others to be decided on the day).

Wednesday 9th January 2013

Branch Business Meeting: 8.00pm

Red Lion, Blue Town, Sheerness

Saturday 19th January 2013 Kent Regional Meeting

12 noon – 3.30pm

The Elephant, Faversham

Wednesday 13th February 2013

Branch Business Meeting: 8.00pm

The Swan, Teynham

Festival news

Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival 2012. 200+

beers. 4th—8th December. Round Chapel,

Powerscroft Road, Hackney, E5 0PU.

National Winter Ales Festival 2013. 300+ beers.

23rd-26th January. Sheridan Suite, Manchester,

M40 8RR.

‘20th’ White Cliffs Winter Ales Festival 2013.

1st & 2nd February. Maison Dieu (Town Hall),

Biggin Street, Dover, CT16 1DL.

Leas Lift Beer Festival. 15-17th March 2013.

Lower Sandgate Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT20

1PR.

Swale CAMRA Branch Meetings

Your local branch holds open business meetings on the second Wednesday of each

month. These meetings are held in a variety of different pubs around Swale.

The branch aims to be inclusive and tries to alternate meetings between town and village

pubs.

At meetings we do follow an agenda, however discussions are light-hearted and we discuss

ways that we can reach our campaigning objectives.

It is also hoped that social trips can also be arranged to pubs in London and Thanet. Our

Social Secretary is also looking to organise a pub games safari around pubs in the

Faversham area (details of all future events to follow in due course).

If you would like any further information about our meetings please check our website

www.camra-swale.org.uk or contact Les Bailey on 01795 538824.

Winter Issue 2012 8

Winter Issue 2012 9

Kent Pub and Brewery News

Shepherd Neame:

The Pilot Brewery has recently produced the

following beers: Oast Dodger (5.5% abv) for

the Kentish Green Hop Beer Fortnight; India

Pale Ale (6.1% abv); Maple Jack (4.5% abv);

Brilliant Pale Ale (5.6% abv); Salutation Ale

(4.0% abv); Special Strong Ale (6.0% abv) and

Deal Storm Warrior (4.0% abv).

The Main Brewery has recently produced the

following beers: Spooks Ale (4.7% abv) - the

Halloween seasonal; Baltijos Red Ale (5.5%

abv) - a collaboration with the Klaipeda

Brewery in Lithuania for the Wetherspoon

Autumn Beer Festival and Red Sails (3.9%

abv).

Hopdaemon:

Has won the following SIBA (Small

Independent Brewers Association) Awards:

Gold for Green Daemon; Gold for bottled

Leviathan and Bronze for bottled

Skrimshander.

Mad Cat Brewery:

Change of use and other approvals have been

obtained. The brewing equipment will be

installed at Brogdale Farm, Faversham in the

first week in December when it is hoped that

brewing will also commence.

Faversham:

The Anchor, Abbey Street re-opened on 26th

October with new licensees Grant and

Natalie Ravenscroft. The pub will now also

have a coffee shop and small general store.

Currently this pub serves six Shepherd

Neame beers, including Bishops Finger, on

hand pump.

The Phoenix Tavern, Abbey Street are

encouraging people not to (eat) drink and

drive by introducing the Phoenix courtesy

mini bus. This is for parties of 6 or more

booking an A La Carte meal on Thursday or

Friday evenings or parties of 8 or more on a

Saturday evening/Sunday lunchtime, within a

12.5 mile radius. Booking is essential.

The Mechanics Arms, West Street closed at

the end of September. We are trying to find

out what plans Shepherd Neame have for this

pub.

The Bear, Market Place recently had Rudgate

Ruby Mild as a guest beer.

The Railway Hotel, Preston Street. Although

Chris is leaving us soon it is good to see he

continues to serve a number of Shepherd

Neame special beers from the main plant and

the pilot brewery, including Brilliant Pale Ale

and the IPA, which sold quickly.

The Old Wine Vaults, Preston Street was

recently selling 3 real ciders. Starting in the

new year Thursday night will be music night

including a music quiz once a month.

The Elephant, The Mall. Jim and Kim have

now completed their purchase of the

freehold. They are planning a celebratory

party some time in the new year. They have

booked Andy Mack to play on Saturday 22

December and will be open on both

Christmas Eve and New Years Eve which

both fall on a Monday.

Selling:

The Sondes Arms has now re-opened and on

a recent visit had Adnams Bitter and

Ghostship and Shepherd Neame Master

Brew.

Rose and Crown, Perry Wood was recently

selling Harveys Old Ale.

Winter Issue 2012 10

75 Preston Street, Faversham

01795 591817

The Old Wine Vaults is a 16th century pub set

in the heart of historic Faversham.

FOUR Cask Ales TWO Cask Ciders

Cider Pub of the Year and Third Place Pub of the Year

Visit our website for Christmas menu and

what's on over the festive holiday.

Starting in the new year Thursday night will be music night including a

music quiz once a month.

20p off nominated ale and cask cider with a valid CAMRA

Card

The pub is open Mon-Sat

11am to 11pm and

Sundays 12pm to

10.30pm



The

PHOENIX

TAVERN Abbey Street, FAVERSHAM

01795 591462

REAL ALES from Around the UK and Local

REAL FOOD prepared freshly daily on the premises

REAL ATMOSPHERE lovely garden and open inglenook log

fires

REAL TRADITION - 14th century oak beamed pub

Quality lagers and Quality Wine from Corney and Barrow

Good Beer Guide 2013

The Phoenix Tavern

Faversham

@Phoenixfav

www.thephoenixtavernfaversham.co.uk

ME13 7BH - 01795 591462


Beer tax escalator campaign

T he Summer

edition of

Swale Ale drew

attention to the fact

that, as a result of

the Government

introducing the beer

duty escalator in

2008, the cost of a

pint has risen by over

40% since this date.

The escalator increases

beer duty by 2% above

inflation every year until

at least 2014/15 and

means that drinkers now pay over a third

of their pint in tax!! This puts tremendous

pressure on all pubs, bars and brewers and

unfairly penalises beer drinkers. It should

be noted that the beer and pub industry

supports almost 1

million jobs and

contributes £21

billion to the UK

Gross Domestic

Product (GDP).

CAMRA is

campaigning to

have this measure

scrapped in the

next Budget and is

l o b b y i n g

Government to

this effect. Over

100,000 CAMRA

members have

signed an on-line

petition which meant that this issue was

subject to a debate in the House of

Commons. This is one of only a handful of

e-petitions to succeed in this respect and

also has the backing of the British Beer and

Pub Association and the Society of

Independent Brewers.

CAMRA is now looking to reinforce

its message through a mass lobby of

parliament, which takes place on

Wednesday 12th December. It is hoped

t h a t o v e r 1 0 0 0

individual members,

including Swale branch

members, will attend to

meet individual MPs to

explain how unfair and

damaging these punitive

tax increases are on

Britain’s national drink.

This will be the most

extensive lobbying

campaign that CAMRA

has taken in its 40 year

history.

This is a major

opportunity to change

beer tax so consider

joining the lobby on

12th December. More background

information, timings and details can be

found at: www.saveyourpintlobby.org.uk.

[LB]

www.saveyourpintlobby.org.uk


White Lion

Selling

The White Lion is a restored coaching

inn dating from 1703, in the village of

Selling, close to the beautiful walks of

Perry Woods

Mon - Fri: 12:00 - 15:00 and 18:00 - 22:45

Sat 12:00 - 22:45 Sun 12:00 - 22:45


Brewery History Society

I nterested in beer? Of course you are, or you

wouldn’t be reading this august magazine. A

number of your colleagues in the Kent branches

of CAMRA are members of the Brewery

History Society and we thought it would be a

good idea to tell you a little about this

organisation, especially as it was formed in Kent

by three local beer enthusiasts.

The BHS was formed in Kent in 1972

and focuses mainly on British brewery history

(including related subjects, such as malting),

although foreign news is also reported. We

currently have over 550 members including

around 90 corporate members, and 15

institutions, major museums and libraries. The

corporate members are mainly brewers and

maltsters, of course, but also include such

organisations as the Institute of Brewing &

Distilling and English Heritage, whilst the

individual members comprise a broad church of industry professionals, historians (both amateur

and professional), collectors and those with a

general interest in beer and brewing.

Publications include a quarterly journal;

typically a perfect bound volume full of erudite

articles, complemented by a quarterly

newsletter full of industry news, readers’

queries (and hopefully answers) and general

informal snippets of information. We also

publish books from time to time, generally

county directories and, of course, ‘A Century of

British Brewers- Plus’, the first essential for all

beer aficionados, containing details of over

10,000 British brewers known to have existed

since 1890. We have recently published our

first colour volume, appropriately a directory of

breweries in Kent.* Entitled ‘Kentish Brewers

and the Brewers of Kent’, author Peter

Moynihan has covered the history of hundreds

of breweries, large and small, in this stunning

volume’s 282 A4 pages.

Fremlin’s specialities



Brewery History Society

Contact address for more information:

Jeff Sechiari, Manor Side East, Mill Lane, Byfleet,

Surrey, KT14 7RS

[email protected] or see

www.BreweryHistory.com

*The book ‘Kentish Brewers and the Brewers of

Kent’ is available from The BHS Bookshop, Long

High Top, Heptonstall, Hebden Bridge, West

Yorkshire, HX7 7PF, and The Elephant, The Mall,

Faversham.

Price £18.95 plus £3.15 postage & package

(£17.95 post free for BHS Members)

We hold a number of meetings at breweries

throughout the year, have a major archive, an

oral history archive and arrange occasional

conferences.

One area that many people, even non-

members, have enjoyed contributing to is our

collection of defunct brewery information and

photographs. This forms a large part of the web

site and records all known examples of now

defunct brewery names still to be seen. It is

arranged geographically and in the Kent section

alone we have over 70 entries, including such

evocative names as Flint, Tomson & Wotton,

Reffell’s, Russell’s, Fremlin, George Beer, Rigden,

Ash & Co., Dartford, New Northfleet,

Woodhams, Style & Winch, Budden & Biggs and

many more. I am sure there are more examples

to be found and we are always keen to hear of

any that we have missed.

Do please have a look at the web site to get a feel for our activities. As mentioned above,

brewery visits form an important part of our

calendar and in the past year alone we have had

visits to several West Midlands breweries, to

Guinness in Dublin, a trip to Nottingham to

include the stunning former Prince of Wales

Brewery, a town walk and another brewery visit;

and a series of walks exploring the brewing and

malting sites in parts of London, Newark, the

Vale of Aylesbury, North Kent, Edinburgh and

Norfolk and an AGM weekend including Fullers,

Camden, Brodie’s & Twickenham. Coming up

we have visits to Kent, Dorset and West

Yorkshire to look at hops and breweries. On a

sadder note we also try to visit any brewery

threatened with closure.

All in all a society of like-minded people,

information and fun. Why not join us? You

would be very welcome. [BHS]

Rigden Ltd of Faversham


Valid from 2nd January 2012 until 29th February 2012

SWALE CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2012—HIGHLY COMMENDED


Pumps, fonts and return trays

T his summer I travelled up to Scotland

for my holiday supping real ale and

fine single malts in Edinburgh and on the

Isle of Islay.

Whilst visiting some of my favourite

pubs in Edinburgh I started reading an

article in Pints of View, the CAMRA

magazine for Edinburgh and S.E. Scotland.

The article gave the case for and against the

use of return trays in pubs. I was sure that

such a practice had died out, and that no

real ale pub would use return trays. It

appears I was wrong.

In Edinburgh (and other places in the

UK) return trays continue to be legally

used. In Edinburgh many traditional pubs

still have a font dispensing system. This air

pressured tap looks like a keg pump,

however it works without the use of CO2.

The article I was reading explains

that ‘if the barperson pours your beer with the valve handle turned towards you, then you are only getting fresh beer straight from the cask. However, if the barperson pours your beer with the handle pointing to him/her, then you are getting a blend of spilt beer from the return tray and fresh beer from the cask.’ It is this practice that

it is suggested leads to an ‘upset stomach’

or illness after a night on the beers. The

article suggests that beer runs not only

down the glass but also over the hands of

the bar staff, contaminating the beer, which

can then be left to sit in the drip tray until

the next customer orders a pint.

This argument leads you to believe

that such a practice would only be used in

pubs where the beer was of dubious quality

and would not be the sort of place that you

would find a discerning real ale drinker.

Well you would be wrong. The traditional

Scottish tall font and return tray system is

used in many of Edinburgh's best pubs,

including those listed in the good beer

guide. I have for many years drunk in these

pubs, and have always received an excellent

pint with no side effects. My initial distaste

for such a system seems incorrect. In

addition it has been brought to my

attention by the editor of Pints of View that

return trays are far more frequently used

with normal hand pumps, where it is even

more difficult to know if the return system

is in use.

The article goes on to provide the

‘case for’ the use of return trays, with the

licensee at the Diggers (Athletic Arms) in

Traditional font style dispenser



Pumps, fonts and return trays

Edinburgh stating ‘At the Diggers we have eight tall fonts and two hand pulls. We feel that the art of pouring the perfect pint in the most hygienic way possible is best achieved using the tall fonts, but only if you have been trained properly. It is harder and more time consuming to train staff to use them, but it is worth it to have well-trained members of staff who can gauge the condition of the beer and dispense that perfect pint. Our Aitken taps have separate return trays so there is no cross contamination of beers. When pouring we can either draw beer straight from the cask or a mix from the cask and return tray. Staff know only to use the tray when the pub is busy so that the beer does not lose condition by sitting in the tray too long and importantly the amount of beer from the return tray never forms more than a quarter of the pint. It is impossible to serve just ale from the return tray as fresh beer from the cask line is required to draw the beer from the tray; by overfilling the glass we can ensure a perfect head on every pint. However staff are also trained not to thrash the beer and create excessive overflow. When pouring, we tilt the glass and angle our hands so any beer overflow does not come into contact with the pourer. Hand sanitizer is there for use at all times and staff are rigorously instructed to wash their hands as often as possible.’ After reading this article I spent

some time watching each of my pints being

pulled, observing if, how and when the

return system was utilised. I discussed its

use with bar staff, landlords and managers

and was told that it never got used when it

was quiet as the beer would go stale.

Pubs to visit in Edinburgh

Bow Bar - eight real ales, huge selection

of single malt whiskies.

Halfway House - four real ales, food,

CAMRA discount.

Blue Blazer - good selection of real ales

including those from micro breweries.

My question is this. Is such a system

actually necessary? I rarely see vast

quantities of beer being poured into the

drip tray, so the wastage must be low. Is

the extra work involved in training and

maintaining such a system financially viable?

This may be because as a southern drinker I

do not expect a thick head on my pint!

I do however want to say thank you

to the editor of Pints of View, Fred

Chrystal, who allowed me to use their

article. If you would like to read the full

a r t i c l e i t i s a v a i l a b l e a t

www.edinburghcamra.org.uk/publications

under Summer 2012.

I would also like to share my

favourite pubs in Edinburgh and to suggest

that it is an excellent city to visit for the

beer tourist. In my opinion the beer is

always of an excellent quality with many

different styles available. [KS]


T: 01795530060 M: 07582556022 E: [email protected] W: www.plumbingandgasservicekenk.co.uk


Bat and trap at The Castle

T his year’s match was again held at The

Castle, Oare, near Faversham, on the

Saturday of the August bank holiday weekend.

Bob Mason the landlord arranged us into seven

teams comprised of CAMRA members, their

friends and pub regulars.

We play a shortened version of the game

with each batsman being bowled ten balls unless

he is bowled out, caught out or bats himself out.

Teams play each other in rotation until every

team had played each other twice and then we

had a short break for food.

After enjoying a spot of lunch we played

a series of knockout matches to determine the

winners and runners up. Many thanks are due to

Bob & Dawn Mason for their organisation and

the very enjoyable food (even homemade

cakes!). A good time was had by all and even the

weather played ball. [GH] Les is bowled over again

Until early 2013 brewed at Kent Brewery, Birling


The Sondes Arms

Selling

Restaurant open Friday / Saturday Night 6:30 to 9:00pm Sunday Lunch 12:00 to 4:00pm

Curry Night Tuesdays Fish & Chip Night Thursdays Bookings taken for Christmas

Booking recommended

Regular Sunday Lunch Music Blues/Jazz Quiz night every Wednesday

Kitchen run by two ex-RAF Chefs

One minutes walk from Selling station

Convenience store open from 6:30am until 11:00pm

Dog Friendly/Children on leads Tel: 01227 752517


For your convenience

beer has been banned!

G reetings Gentle Reader. Since my last

article Old Obadiah has been on his

holidays. Crossing The Pond no less to spend

some time in Chicago and its environs. Now

don’t get me wrong I am not going to regale

you with pages of places you have never been

and beers that you are unlikely to try (although I

would recommend the beer from The Wild

Onion Brewpub, Barrington, Illinois). Suffice to

say I enjoyed some really good and varied ales

from several of the numerous American micro-

breweries, check them out if you are over there

sometime - I think you will be pleasantly

surprised that it is not all Bud, Coors and Miller

Lite!

Whilst I was in the Good Ol’ US of A I

read some interesting pieces about the effect of

Prohibition on beer brewing in America so this

is the topic of my piece this time.

In America they are very keen on making life as simple as possible and will often

presage a new rule with ‘For your convenience’

for example, and I cite Bill Bryson here when

staying in a hotel he came across a notice saying

– ‘For your convenience ice machines are

situated on floors two and seven.’ Next to the

place on the fourth floor where an ice machine

once stood! The implication is that it is for your

betterment but really isn’t. So I can’t help

wondering if there was a notice put up across

America in the Twenties that read something

like ‘For your convenience the 18th Amendment

to the United States Constitution has banned

the production, sale and transportation of

alcoholic beverages’. Now although it was illegal

to make, sell or move beer it was not illegal to

own or consume it. Let’s just think about this

for a minute. On the face of it beer was out,

however America’s pioneering spirit was not

going to be crushed that easily. The average

American realised that if he couldn’t go to a bar

for a beer he could go to his own cellar and as

it was not illegal to buy the ingredients to make

beer there was an explosion in home brewing.

The sale of home brewing equipment

and ingredients went through the roof. Even

Woolworths started selling beer making kits

(something they continued to do until their sad

demise). The government realised that these

sales had gone up enormously but amazingly did

not realise why. One Government Prohibition

Agent, a certain A W McDaniel, deduced that,

due to the amount of malt extracts being sold,

there must be an enormous amount of baking

being done!! This however did not explain why

in one year hop sales exceeded thirteen million

dollars. The Prohibition Bureau finally cottoned

on and it was estimated that by 1929 the

amount of home brewing ingredients sold meant

that Americans must be brewing around seven

hundred million gallons of beer at home!! A

poem, written by a member of the New York State Rotary Club, of the time went: -

Is the guy in the flat hat helping or trying to

stop the beer being poured away?


For your convenience

beer has been banned!

Mother’s in the kitchen washing out jugs; Sister’s in the pantry bottling suds.

Father’s in the cellar mixing up hops And Johnny’s on the front porch watching for

the cops.

Eventually the Feds worked out that the average

American must be making beer and in the first

ten years of prohibition agents seized over one

billion gallons of illegally brewed beer. The

problem arose when it came to prosecution. To

search a private premises a warrant was needed.

However in order to get a warrant there had to

be evidence that that the premises was being

used for the sale of beer, not just production for

home use, so the typical defence was that it was

for home consumption. ‘Honestly your Honour

the twenty five hogsheads of beer in my cellar

was for my own consumption’. This seemed to

work most of the time - even if the Feds had

already seized and poured away your stocks you

were free to go and simply brew some more

with no more than a mild slap on the wrist. A

fabulous example of this was where a certain

Nebraskan attorney, Mr Frank Bartos, was

caught with 700 quarts of homebrew in his

home. The judge said that although Bartos

violated the law it was not an act of ‘moral

turpitude’ and therefore did not reflect on his

ability to practice law and that 700 quarts of

beer would indicate a considerable capacity on

the part of him, his family and guests to his

house!!!

Now I am sure that many of you have

brewed beer at home. Even Obadiah had a shot

at it once or twice with a ‘Geordie Home Brew’

kit and the results were, shall we say, distinctive

but not undrinkable. However the descriptions

of the time were that the beer confiscated

ranged from undrinkable to unsanitary or just

plain filthy. The beer was said to be sludge like,

with a mud brown appearance, a sour yeasty

smell and a taste like laundry soap! ‘But did it do

the job?’ I hear you cry. The effect of the beer

was said to be ‘explosive’ with a tendency to

cause severe headaches and an inability to focus ones eyes. Now dependant on who you ask the

answer could be yes or no. In fact when

Obadiah was a young student at Grumbleweeds

Agricultural College many years ago a night

could have been said to have been a roaring

success if the next day you felt like this!!

However this was not to last as once

prohibition was lifted the average American

could go back to drinking his beloved pale, lightly

hopped ales. In fact on the day that prohibition

was lifted a St Louis brewer delivered to The

White House two cases of beer with the

salutation ‘Here’s to you – President Roosevelt’!

So there you have it. Even the might of

Uncle Sam could not keep the ordinary man

from his beer, even if it was muddy and

unpalatable!!

One final note before I go. Home

brewing did not become legal in the USA until

1979. The homebrew must really have been

bad!!

Cheers!

Obadiah Spillage

The Feds continue their gruesome work




Faversham Hop Festival

T his year’s beer stall at Faversham Hop

Festival was the most successful to

date with increased sales and beer from

five local Kent breweries and cider from

three local producers. We had the stall in

our usual place in East Street, which has

now become almost our recognised spot.

Sales were brisk from early on

Saturday and increased to a steady queue

as the day went on. Our beers came from

Hopdaemon, Gadds, Whitstable, Goody’s

and Canterbury Brewers (The Foundry).

Our ciders were from Dudda’s Tun, Kent

Cider Co. and North Downs Cider. The

fastest selling beer was Hopdaemon’s

Golden Braid with nine gallons going in just

forty minutes and our most popular cider

being Kent Cider Co. Pear & Apple which

ran out first.

On Sunday the weather was even

better with blue sunny skies all day. Our

customers started to arrive at the bar at

around 11o’clock and custom grew steadily

as the day wore on, with groups of Morris

Dancers and other street entertainers

delighting the crowds.

Even though we ordered extra cider

this year above what we sold last year we

still nearly ran out on Saturday so a call

was made to Kent Cider Co. for resupply

which was duly delivered on Sunday

morning (thanks Marcus). It shows that

cider is definitely in an ascendance as we

have sold an ever increasing amount in the

last few years. Some purists may have

made rumblings over the likes of Magners

and Bulmers selling cider type products but

it has made people try cider or retry it and

some people have gone on to try real cider

because of starting out with fizz and have

become interested in discovering the wide

range of tastes and styles available.

Overall The Hop Festival this year

was very successful for us and for many

businesses in the town, with an estimated

40,000 people attending over the two

days. The newspapers highlighted the

relatively small amount of trouble that

happened over the weekend which mostly

went on after the street events had

finished. They were n’er do wells who

apparently got drunk on cheap canned

lager sold from off licences and

supermarkets and not drinks purchased

from stalls like ours or the local pubs.

Criticism was also levelled at this year’s

organisers about certain aspects of the

event, but in my view it was well run with

as much free movement for the crowds as

possible, with a good placing of trading

pitches and stage areas. I hope that the

Hop Festival will be run along similar lines

next year and that the organisers hear and

receive the praise that is due for it being

an overall success. [GH]

Swale CAMRA beer and cider bar


All within a day of Swale

W elcome to the second tour of our series

- to historic St Albans in Hertfordshire,

the long established home of CAMRA

headquarters.

This tour, for the dedicated pub

enthusiast, can be combined with tour one (on

our website and in the summer edition of Swale Ale) which also visits many pubs but is also great

for shoppers and those wanting to absorb

themselves in the history of St Albans.

Leaving St Albans City station, the

starting point for this tour, you will see the

former city prison on the other side of the road.

Cross at the traffic lights and go to the other

side of the railway bridge. Here, you will

encounter “The Horn” (formerly The Midland).

We considered Swale members would feel at

home here and may feel it a convenient first call

for shower dodging only - as peering through

the door on our last visit, we noticed the pub served “Spitfire”. This pub is famous for its

music and stands on the corner of Alma Road,

where we suggest you turn left to continue your

walk on the left hand side of the road passing

CAMRA’s former headquarters at No 34, a

large house on the edge of Oswald Road. Soon

we reached the junction with the A1081

(formerly the A6) London Road which we

crossed – and facing us was “The Great

Northern”. We were not tempted to visit this

place but that is not to say there is anything

wrong with it!

Remaining on the same side of the road

and passing the former Odeon cinema, you will

arrive at “The Farmer’s Boy” in the next five

minutes or so. At this point you will have

walked about half a mile from the station. This

quaint, unusual pub with a rear garden and

attached micro-brewery (The Verulam

Brewery), serves good, reasonably-priced food

to tempt all appetites (main courses were

mostly priced approximately within a £6 to £7

price range). We watched food being prepared

and cooked mostly within sight of customers,

adjacent to the bar. Specials on the board

included the All Day Breakfast, Beef Stew,

Cumberland Sausage & Mash with Red Onion

Gravy and Spag Bol and there were light bites

available with salad on the menu from £3. Ales

on offer were, Gathering Storm – a stout from

Leeds Brewery and Scarlet Macaw and Hare &

Hedgehog by Oakham Ales. Sadly, the micro-

brewery’s own beer was (unusually) unavailable

to sample when we visited - but for cider lovers

a Weston Traditional Scrumpy and Scrumpy Jack

were both tasted and were fine. This is truly a

pub which caters for a variety of tastes.

Just a few minutes further along the

road, past Watson’s Walk and a parade of

shops, continue for a short distance until you

reach a small walkway or alley known as

Keyfield Terrace. We recommend members

don’t miss this walkway. It is the key to an

enjoyable afternoon/early evening for the ale

lover and serves as a short cut to a number of

interesting pubs in close proximity. You will be spoilt for choice – but time may dictate your

being selective. You may wish to refer to the

CAMRA Good Beer Guide (2012), page 204,

where applicable, for further information.

The Beehive, Keyfield Terrace (not

listed in CAMRA GBG)

The White Hart Tap, 4 Keyfield

Terrace

The Garibaldi, 61 Albert Street

The Goat, 37 Sopwell Lane

Hare & Hounds (not listed in CAMRA

GBG)

The White Lion, 91 Sopwell Lane

Turn into the alleyway and immediately on your

Gill and Keith explore the possibilities for

great pub visiting within a day of Swale.

Following on from part one in the last issue

of Swale Ale, the pub trail of St Albans,

Herfordshire, continues with tour two.

Part one of the tour is available from

www.camra-swale.org.uk


Happy Christmas from all at

The Three Hats Milton Regis

93 High Street, Milton Regis, Sittingbourne. Kent ME10 2AR

For all enquiries call Malcolm on 07764 842 478


All within a day of Swale right is The Beehive (refurbished in 2007).

Continuing down the road, within a few

hundred yards you will approach The White

Hart Tap (2012 CAMRA GBG) which has a

good selection of beers. Walk down Keyfield

Terrace for a short distance... the next turning

on the right is Albert Street. Turn right and a

few yards on the right is the Garibaldi (2012

CAMRA GBG). This is a Fullers pub and has a

range of their beers plus guest ales (from

Oakham Brewery at the time of our visit).

On leaving the Garibaldi you could

continue up Albert Street (St Albans Abbey can

be seen ahead of you) but you would miss two

recommended pubs at the next street. We

suggest that you retrace your steps back to

Keyfield Terrace, turn right, then right again into

Sopwell Lane.

On the opposite side of the road is the

Hare and Hounds. This is a very old pub and although the beer was good when we visited,

the decor could do with some tidying up but it

offers CAMRA members a discount. On leaving

the Hare and Hounds, continue up Sopwell Lane

and immediately round the corner you will

come to The White Lion (2012 CAMRA GBG).

A recommended pub with 8 hand pumps with

three regular and five guest beers. Again on the

right you will find The Goat (2012 CAMRA

GBG). A traditional 15th Century pub worth a

visit (CAMRA membership cards at the ready

for a discount).

On leaving The Goat, proceed up

Sopwell Lane until you reach Holywell Hill

where we recommend you turn right and climb

the hill, passing the Cafe Rouge (formerly the

home of Ryders Seeds, the donator of the Ryder

Cup in Golf). Ahead you will see The White

Hart Hotel, a genuine Tudor coaching Inn which

is worth a look around in its own right but

when we visited in March it was serving Adnams

Bitter, Oakham Brewery JHB and guest ales.

For those less keen on churches, even a

short visit to the Abbey may be considered well

worth your while (enter via Sumpter

Yard...immediately opposite The White Hart).

It has the second longest nave in Britain and

there are some beautiful stained glass windows

to admire.

If you have had your fill of beer you can

work off those calories with a further steep

climb on this last lap of the tour, crossing the

London Road and heading up into Chequer

Street. Here you will pass The Cross Keys

(Wetherspoon) but in our opinion this is less

worthy of a visit when time is at a premium. Go

forward and you will next need to cross Victoria

Street into St Peter’s Street and the City

Centre. Here on the right you will pass the Post

Office at about the half way point in the street.

Immediately behind is located The Waterend

Barn (see the final paragraph of Tour One on

our website for details of this meeting point).

However, further down the street near St

Peter’s Church, CAMRA give The Blacksmith’s

Arms a rating in the Good Beer Guide (we had our wedding reception here in 1969 but

personally speaking, we were not impressed

with the changes when we visited!)

You may also wish to bear in mind for a

future visit maybe, that turning down Hatfield

Road, beyond the Blacksmith’s Arms you will

pass The St Albans Museum on the left and

eventually on the right you will reach The

Mermaid (also rated highly in CAMRA’s GBG).

[GJ & KJ]

Visit our award winning website at

www.camra-swale.org.uk


Local cider makers win national awards

T wo of our local cider producers won

national awards at the Brogdale Cider

Festival held in September. Dudda’s Tun Cider

from Doddington won two awards. In the

perry class they won 2nd place for Pear o’

Duddas and in the 5% or below cider category

they won 1st place for Dizzy Dudda.

The Kent Cider Company also won

1st place for Tydeman’s Early in the 5-8.5%

category. All of the awards were from the

National Association of Cider Makers. With

Brogdale being the home to the National Fruit

Collection which has a large stock of apple,

pear and other fruit trees it was an ideal place

to make these awards. Also it was gratifying

to see that Kent and South East England were

judged to be producing some of the best cider

in the country. [GH]


THE BOWL INN

Find us on the top of the North Downs above Charing, in an

area of outstanding natural beauty.

Enjoy a pint of real ale or a glass of wine in our large beer garden or heated patio area.

Regular steak nights, curry nights, and live music.

Four Star Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

For ‘what’s on’ please visit our website www.bowl-inn.co.uk

We can also offer bed and breakfast accommodation with 4

en-suite bedrooms, and a garden room which offers full

facilities for disabled guests. We are a 'dog and horse friendly' Inn

Alan and Sue Paine

Egg Hill Road, Charing, Ashford, Kent TN27 OHG

Tel: 01233 712256 email [email protected]

http://www.bowl-inn.co.uk/


A guide to beer online

M any websites are popping up offering

information on both pubs and beer. Here

are some that might be of interest to readers of

Swale Ale.

The Beermad website was developed by

Suffolk based CAMRA member and software

developer Tony Green. The website details

every beer known to have been brewed in the

UK since 1976 and searches can be made either

by the name of the beer or of the brewery.

There is also an extensive list of UK pubs.

In October, Tony launched a new

android mobile phone app based on his website.

He says “Today we have over 1000 British

breweries producing over 10,000 Real Ales

every year, giving beer-lovers an unprecedented

choice of ales. Faced with so much choice, many

drinkers now like to keep a record of the many

different beers they have sampled. Whether you

are a hard core ticker or someone who likes to

try a few new beers and keep note of what you

thought of them, you can set up Beermad mobile

to show and edit precisely what information you

want to see. And its incredibly easy to use too”.

Beermad mobile is available from Google

Play Store or via the Beermad website for only

£1.50.

Another useful website is Cyclops, which

you can use to look up information on how a

beer might taste. Cyclops was designed to help

beer drinkers find the style of beer that they

enjoy and to find other similar styles. The

www.beermad.org.uk

www.cyclopsbeer.co.uk

website is easy to use and provides information

on beers brewed by participating breweries

against three simple characteristics: sight, smell

and taste.

This website

can be searched by

ABV, name, brewery

o r k e y

characteristics. This

allows you to find

beers that are similar

or to look up what a

particular beer might

taste like.

Locally we also have the Kent Pubs

Database which lists all pubs in the Ashford,

Canterbury and Swale branches. This website

allows you to search using a map and provides

information on many aspects of each pub

including the beer served. [LB & KS]

www.kentales.org.uk




The Swan Inn

Teynham

Two ‘LocAles’

Award Winning ‘Duddas Tun’ Cider

Sky Sports

Free Quiz Sunday from 4:40pm

Live music Saturdays at 9pm Karaoke Sundays and Tuesdays from 7pm Friendly poker every Wednesday at 8pm

Sunday lunch 12-3.30 2 meals for £9

78 London Road, Teynham, Kent ME9 9QH

01795 521 218


Crossword: Kent breweries

Across

1. The Darling Buds Brewery (7)

5. On one leg you devil (3,6)

6. This brewery can be found all at sea (6)

7. The prehistoric fella’s brewery (4,3)

8. Aging smithy (3,5)

13. Shard Alight (anagram 3,3,4)

15. Funny guy is well balanced we hear (10)

16. Metal working brewery (7)

Down

2. Adhere mesh pen (anagram 8,5)

3. The counties own brewery (4)

4. The monastery and a bit of a blow we

hear (7)

9. This brewery used to produce milk (3,5)

10. Mr Sheep’s way into the field (8)

11. The brewery in the old channel (7)

12. Brewery found on the back of a witch’s

broom (5,3)

14. The beer ingredient needs a shave (3,4)


Rose and Crown

Perry Wood

A proper country pub in outstanding surroundings

Log fire, cask ales, Sunday roast

Open all day weekends

Unbeatable Xmas decorations

Quality menu

Walkers, riders, runners, children on leads &

well behaved dogs welcome.

Open Mon-Fri 11.30-15.00 18.30-23.00

Sat Sun all day (not Mon eves)

Tel 01227 752214

Selling, Near Faversham, Kent, ME13 9RY

Documents

Swale Ale Winter 2012